Zanu-PF laughs off MoUs

Farirai Machivenyika Senior Reporter
Zanu-PF has rubbished the Memoranda of Understanding signed between MDC-T and two other opposition parties, saying it was a desperate attempt by the parties to solicit for funding from the West. MDC-T signed an MoU with the Joice Mujuru-led National People’s Party on Wednesday and yesterday inked another one with Professor Welshman Ncube’s MDC.

Speaking in an interview, Zanu-PF secretary for Information and Publicity Cde Simon Khaya Moyo said the revolutionary party was unmoved by the latest developments.

“To me it is like as one writer said, “building a nightclub in a cemetery”. These parties know they cannot win elections and as President Mugabe has said, zero multiplied by zero is zero,” he said.

“They can sign as many MoUs as they wish, but these MoUs don’t vote. We know very well that it is a desperate move by the parties to get funding from our erstwhile enemies who have tried every trick in the book to have regime change without success.”

Cde Khaya Moyo said Zanu-PF could not be defeated in any elections because of its strong policies.

“Zanu-PF is undefeatable because of its sound policies and programmes which appeal to the people of Zimbabwe as a whole,” he said. “We also have got a history as a party which liberated the country.

“I have never heard of a coalition in the history of the country. Zanu-PF is a focused party and our mission is to speed up the economic emancipation of our people. This is evident when you look at the Zim-Asset blueprint and the 10-Point Plan announced by the President not long ago.”

Cde Khaya Moyo said the good rains received last season would spur the country’s economic growth as a bumper harvest was expected and appealed for Zimbabweans to rally behind President Mugabe.

“We also have to recognise the outstanding leadership of President Mugabe who is also Zanu-PF’s First Secretary and we continue to appeal to our people to promote unity, peace and development,” he added.

Political analyst Mr Goodwine Mureriwa said it was clear that the opposition was coming together to access donor funds.

“If you follow events in the recent past you will realise that Morgan Tsvangirai and Joice Mujuru have been to Chatham House, which is a British think tank owned by the Royal Institute of International Affairs,” he said.

“It is at Chatham House that on 24 January 1999 at a meeting chaired by Richard Dowden that resolutions on how to remove President Mugabe from power were passed.”

Mr Mureriwa said among the resolutions was the creation of an opposition party to challenge Zanu-PF and President Mugabe, which resulted in the birth of MDC.

University of Zimbabwe political scientist Professor Charity Manyeruke said the signing of the MoU to establish a coalition was a clear admission of failure by the opposition parties.

“This is a clear admission by the opposition parties of their inherent weaknesses to try to be in Government,” she said.

“When you have opposition parties in a political system, they are supposed to be forces which people can believe in, even in their small way.

“But when they are failing and try to form coalitions it means they are accepting that they have failed. Now they are trying to come together thinking that in their weakness they would become strong. But that cannot be the case because combining a weakness and another weakness will create something even weaker.”

Prof Manyeruke said given the history of opposition parties in Zimbabwe it won’t be long before they split.